[meteorite-list] Pete Conrad Act Tied to Threatening Asteroids

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:50:30 2004
Message-ID: <200204301525.IAA12525_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/conrad_bill_020430.html

Pete Conrad Act Tied to Threatening Asteroids
By Leonard David
space.com
30 April 2002

The late Charles Conrad, a veteran astronaut who flew Gemini, Skylab, and
Apollo missions, is recognized in a bill before the U.S. Congress that is
tied to spotting celestial bodies that could harm Earth.

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California introduced on April 25
the Charles Pete Conrad Astronomy Award Act. The Act calls for the Board of
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to establish an awards program in
honor of the astronaut.

Conrad was killed on July 8, 1999 in a tragic motorcycle accident in Ojai,
California. He was 69 years of age.

The Act is intended to encourage amateur astronomers to discover new
heavenly bodies and keep an eye on previously identified objects,
particularly those that threaten a close approach to Earth.

"Charles Pete Conrad made history and today in his honor and in his memory,
I am introducing a bill that could help protect the United States of America
and, yes, the entire world," Rohrabacher said in detailing the legislation
before the House of Representatives.

Award categories

The bill, House Resolution 4613 (H.R. 4613), calls for three categories of
awards:

   * The first category is an award for the amateur astronomer who discovers
     the largest asteroid crossing in near-Earth orbit;
   * The second category is an award to an amateur astronomer for
     discovering asteroids using information derived from professional
     sources and locating newly discovered asteroids; and
   * The third category is an award for those who provide the greatest
     service in updating the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Minor Planet
     Center's catalog of known asteroids.

Rohrabacher noted that the Act underscores the fact that asteroids colliding
with Earth, and the threat they pose, is not science fiction.

"There are numerous examples of asteroids and comets in the last few years
that have come very near to the world and have not been detected until the
last minute or even after they pass by the world. One of them was coming in
from the Sun and was not seen until after it passed the Earth's orbit. If
any of these asteroids or comets would have hit the Earth, it would have
been a catastrophic occasion, perhaps killing hundreds of millions of
people," Rohrabacher said.

Home planet defense

The lawmaker said that by providing awards, amateur astronomers could look
into the sky to help find troublesome objects. "We are mobilizing the people
to help us discover that possible threat," he said.

Rohrabacher said that he once chaired a hearing on the issue, observing that
one witness said not to worry about the problem. That authority testified
that there is about as much chance of a comet hitting the Earth as it is of
going to Las Vegas and getting a royal straight flush, the lawmaker
recounted.

"And I said, oh, my gosh. I did get a royal straight flush once. I remember
that happening. So this is a real threat, but it is not something we have to
fear. It is something we have to look at and try to find a way to identify
threats. It is called Home Planet Defense. We need to pay some attention to
it; and then if an asteroid does threaten us, we will be able to identify it
far in advance and deter it from its path so it would not hurt the people of
the world," Rohrabacher said.

Looking up and getting involved

A key purpose of the bill is to get young people more interested in space
and science and mathematics.

The awards would be administered by the Smithsonian Institution, with
Rohrabacher asking his U.S. Congress colleagues to join in by co-sponsoring
the Pete Conrad Award bill.

"This bill will do a great deal in bringing to our young people the
realities of science and America's space program. Let us get them off of
these electronic games and get them into the real world and the real world
may well be dealing with threats coming to us from outer space from great
distances away - asteroids and comets that we should know about," Rohrabacher
said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues and seeing that we get
young Americans looking up just like Pete Conrad - always looking up and
getting involved."
Received on Tue 30 Apr 2002 11:25:22 AM PDT